Newsfrom Japan
Tokyo, July 12 (Jiji Press)–Japanese authorities are believed to have intervened in the currency market on Thursday night, when the yen surged against the dollar and other major currencies, market sources said, citing Bank of Japan data released on Friday.
The authorities are estimated to have spent around 3 trillion to 4 trillion yen to buy the yen against the dollar, according to the data on estimated changes in commercial financial institutions’ current account balances at the central bank.
The data showed that the change in account balances linked to “treasury funds and others” is predicted to be a negative 3.17 trillion yen on Tuesday. The amount spent on the intervention was estimated using the difference between this figure and market predictions that do not assume an intervention.
Thursday night’s possible intervention followed a 9.7-trillion-yen “stealth” intervention by Japanese authorities between late April and May.
“It was highly likely a surprise follow-up intervention” shortly after the release of data showing that the pace of U.S. consumer inflation slowed in June, said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities Co.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
